Lusk, Miller slapped with harassment suit

NANCY FLAKE

Published 7:00 pm, Wednesday, May 21, 2003

The suit, filed by Conroe attorney Gilbert Garcia and Margie Harris, a noted sexual harassment attorney in Houston, alleges years of "highly offensive behavior and sexual harassment" from both Lusk, 58, and Miller, 45. The suit was filed on behalf of CISD public information officer Nicole Segura, 32, and her assistant, Shannon Weaver, 24.

Lusk resigned suddenly April 15 after being away from district offices since April 2. School district trustees gave him a $223,000 buyout, equal to one year of his base salary, for his resignation and retirement. Lusk's contract had stipulated he would be due a minimum of two years' base salary if he was terminated without "cause." District officials have yet to explain why Lusk resigned.

Miller resigned May 6 for "personal and professional reasons," according to his resignation letter. He is still on salary — $131,000 a year — until his resignation takes effect June 30.

No monetary damages have yet been set in the lawsuit, but Segura and Weaver are taking action "to inflict punishment upon Lusk and Miller because up to this point, no one has or even seems to want to," Garcia said Friday.

"Because of CISD's actions, David Lusk and Brian Miller have learned that there is no downside for sexually harassing subordinates; instead they got rewarded monetarily for that behavior.

"Plus, they get to pursue their careers elsewhere and potentially do it again because this has not been made a part of their employment record."

Garcia and Harris also were expected to file a charge of discrimination against CISD through the Texas Commission on Human Rights "within the week," Garcia said.

Charges of official oppression could also be brought against Lusk and Miller by the Montgomery County Grand Jury, according to Montgomery County District Attorney Mike McDougal, who reviewed the lawsuit Friday.

Official oppression is a Class A misdemeanor, according to the Texas Penal Code. "A public servant acting under color of his office or employment commits an offense if he … intentionally subjects another to sexual harassment," the code states.

However, the school district may pursue a countersuit against Segura and Weaver, said a Houston attorney who represents CISD, for "needlessly casting aspersions" on CISD general counsel Carrie Galatas in the suit.

Segura, who has worked for CISD since August of 1994, and Weaver, who began as an intern in February of 2001 and became a full-time employee the following May, assert in their suit that they brought their complaints to CISD trustees on March 24, after Segura had already gone to Galatas because she was afraid Lusk was going to fire Weaver for refusing his sexual advances.

"After harassing Weaver for almost two years with no results," the suit states, "Lusk told Segura that he was going to have a Reduction in Force (employee cutback) and that Weaver's name would be first on the list because he had no use for her 'other than for personal reasons.'

"Perceiving that Lusk was going to carry through with his threat to fire Weaver for refusing his sexual demands, Segura turned to CISD in-house counsel Galatas. This was not the first occasion on which Segura and Galatas had discussed Lusk and his inappropriate behavior towards each of them. In response to Segura's query, Galatas again told Segura how she herself had been harassed by Lusk on several occasions.

"When Segura brought the conversation back to Lusk's current harassment of Weaver, Galatas told Segura, 'Yeah, but what can you do when it's the superintendent?'"

Galatas said she did not want to comment until she had seen the entire lawsuit, but David Feldman of the Houston law firm Feldman and Rogers, who represents the district, said Segura and Weaver had "needlessly cast aspersions falsely" on Galatas.

"The way they've referenced Carrie is abusive," Feldman said. "I think it's sanctionable. There are processes available under civil procedures to address this to protect school employees from abuse in the legal process.

"I need to see the whole lawsuit to figure out what we might do on behalf of any CISD personnel improperly mentioned in the lawsuit."

It was Feldman and Rogers who asked Texas Attorney General Greg Abbott to allow CISD to withhold information on an investigation into sexual harassment complaints against Lusk and Miller. The Courier had requested information April 11 on investigations on any and all wrongdoing by any CISD employee. Abbott's office ruled May 12 that CISD must release that information.

The suit filed by Segura and Weaver also alleges that, after former board president Barbara Watson told Segura and Weaver to take their complaints to then-vice president Ann Snyder, Snyder told them Lusk had sexually harassed her too.

"When she (Snyder) mentioned the incident to a fellow board member, that individual told her that she was 'in the big leagues now' and 'needed to learn how to play with the big boys,'" the suit states.

Snyder called The Courier Friday evening from Austin to angrily deny making those statements.

"That is not correct," she said. "I never stated it, and it never happened.

"There's no truth in it."

According to the lawsuit, Lusk repeatedly revealed details about sexual matters, including his own sex life and extramarital relationships, to Segura and Weaver.

"Segura and Weaver both found these revelations inappropriate and so advised Lusk," the suit states. "It did not deter him."

The suit gives a thorough discourse on what it alleges as CISD's negligence in the matter. "CISD has not fulfilled its duty to protect its employees, and particularly Segura and Weaver from sexual harassment. Other CISD officials were aware of Lusk's general propensity to engage in distasteful behavior and yet did nothing to try to protect school district employees from such an individual."

The district also failed to provide effective sexual harassment training for employees of the district, and in fact, at one point, according to the suit, Lusk made a mockery of a video designed to train employees how to recognize sexual harassment.

Lusk allegedly told Segura that he "just signed his name and didn't have to waste his time watching that 'stupid' video."

After Miller began working for CISD in 1998, according to the suit, he and Lusk spent more and more time together, "which gave Miller the opportunity to learn Lusk's pattern of abusive behavior towards Segura and Weaver. As a result, Miller … verbally and physically harassed them more vigorously and blatantly than ever before," the suit states.